Abstract

This collection consists of the papers of several
generations of Warren family physicians: General Joseph Warren (1741-1775),
John Warren (1753-1815), John Collins Warren (1778-1856), Jonathan Mason Warren
(1811-1867), and John Collins Warren II (1842-1927).

Biographical Sketches

Joseph Warren (1741-1775), born in Roxbury,
Mass., on June 11, 1741, was a physician and soldier who became a leader in the
American Revolution. He graduated from Harvard in 1759 and began practicing
medicine in 1764. A close friend of Samuel Adams, Warren was an outspoken
opponent of naval impressment and the Stamp Act of 1765. He was a member of the
Boston Committee of Safety and, with Samuel Adams and James Otis, helped to
form the first Committee of Correspondence in November 1772. In 1774, Warren
drafted the "Suffolk Resolves," which advocated forcible resistance to the
British and placed the colony of Massachusetts in open rebellion against the
British government. He delivered an important oration on March 5, 1775,
commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Boston Massacre. On the night of
April 18, 1775, he dispatched William Dawes and Paul Revere on their famous
"Midnight Rides" to Lexington and Concord, and he fought alongside General
Heath in the battle the following day. Warren was a member of the first, second
and third Provincial Congresses between 1774 and 1775 and president of the
third. On June 14, 1775, he was appointed second major-general of the
Massachusetts forces. He was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill just three
days later on June 17.

John Warren (1753-1815), brother of Joseph
Warren, was born in Roxbury, Mass., in 1753. A 1771 graduate of Harvard, he
became a leading surgeon in New England. He served in the Revolution and was a
founder of the medical school at Harvard, where in 1782 he was appointed
professor of anatomy and surgery.

John Collins Warren (1778-1856), son of John
Warren, was born in Boston, Mass. The son and nephew of famous Boston doctors,
he also became a surgeon. After graduating from Harvard, he studied surgery
with his father, completed his education in Europe, and finally set up a
practice in Boston in 1802. Warren was a member of the Harvard Medical School
faculty for most of his career (1809-1847), serving as dean from 1816-1819. He
was active in reforming medical education and practice in the U.S. and became
one of the founders of Massachusetts General Hospital. On October 16, 1846,
Warren performed the first operation using ether as an anesthesia (administered
by dentist W.T.G. Morton), and he was the first American to operate on a
strangulated hernia. He wrote an important book on his speciality,
Surgical Observations on Tumours (1837).

Jonathan Mason Warren (1811-1867), son of John
Collins Warren, was born on February 5, 1811. He received his medical degree
from Harvard in 1832 and studied in Europe before returning to practice in
Boston in 1835. In 1846, he was appointed visiting surgeon at Massachusetts
General Hospital. Warren specialized in plastic and reconstructive surgery and
performed the earliest rhinoplastic operations in the U.S. He also worked with
skin grafts and developed a procedure for closure of the cleft palate. Warren
died on August 19, 1867.

John Collins Warren II (1842-1927), son of
Jonathan Mason Warren, was born in Boston, Mass. He was a surgeon associated
with Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital for most of his
professional career. He studied for three years in Europe before returning to
the U.S. in 1869 to begin practice in Boston. His most important book, based on
his studies of infectious bacteria, was called Surgical
Pathology and Therapeutics (1895).

Sources

Truax, Rhoda. The Doctors Warren of Boston:
First Family of Surgery. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin,
1968.

Warren, Edward. The Life of John Collins Warren,
M.D.: Compiled Chiefly from his Autobiography and Journals. Boston,
Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, 1860.

Warren, Edward. The Life of John Warren, M.D.:
Surgeon-General During the War of the Revolution; First Professor of Anatomy
and Surgery in Harvard College; President of the Massachusetts Medical Society,
etc. Boston, Mass.: Noyes, Holmes and Co., 1874.

Subjects described in the papers include general medicine, medical aspects
of the American Revolution, the founding and early years of the Harvard Medical
School, the Massachusetts General Hospital, the controversy over the first use
of ether as anesthesia, and phrenology.

Arrangement

The loose manuscripts in this collection (series I) were originally tipped
into 46 volumes, and each document was individually cataloged in the MHS
catalog, indexed by volume and page number. However, those 46 volumes have
since been disbound and the documents rehoused into 23 archival boxes,
rendering the volume and page numbers in the catalog obsolete. Researchers
should disregard these numbers and instead access items by date, except for the
topical volumes, such as those relating to Spurzheim and anesthesia, which are
still arranged by subject.

The arrangement of the rest of the volumes in this collection (series II)
has not been disturbed, with the exception of volume 115, which has been
disbound and is now located in box 23. Original volume numbers in this series,
beginning with volume 47, have been retained.

Detailed Description of the Collection

I. Loose manuscripts,
1738-1926

Arranged chronologically.

This series contains general Warren papers from 1738 to 1926. Both Joseph
and John's papers relate to their roles as physicians, patriots, and members of
the Continental Army during the American Revolution. They include Joseph
Warren's oration on March 5, 1775, the fifth anniversary of the Boston
Massacre, and John Warren's diary from April 19, 1775, to May 11, 1776, kept
during his service as army surgeon. Diary entries note events of the war such
as the battle of Bunker Hill, the siege of Boston, and troop movements.

The papers of John and John Collins Warren (1778-1856) describe their
medical practices and the founding and moving of Harvard Medical School. John
Collins Warren's papers also include materials relating to his role as a
surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the controversy surrounding
the discovery of the anesthetic use of ether; correspondence with his father
while he (John C.) was studying medicine in Europe; correspondence with his
son, Jonathan Mason Warren; and papers related to his interests in fossils and
mastodon skeletons.

This series also contains Warren genealogical materials, information about
anesthesia and phrenology, and correspondence between Benjamin W. and John
Crowninshield.

Box 1

Oration of General Joseph Warren,
5 Mar. 1775, and diary of John Warren,
19 Apr. 1775-11 May 1776

II. Bound volumes,
1777-1910

This series contains bound volumes, primarily account books and journals.
Account books record medical services performed by the Warrens, including fees
charged. Most of the journals were kept by John Collins Warren and Jonathan
Mason Warren, and they contain both personal and professional entries. John
Collins Warren's journals document his medical career, including his
involvement in the founding of Harvard Medical School and accounts of lectures
given there; his role as a surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital; the
controversy surrounding the discovery and use of ether; and his participation
in a variety of medical and professional societies. Entries also note Warren's
interest in fossils and natural history, his participation in the temperance
movement, his membership in the Bunker Hill Monument Association, and his
travels in Europe (1837-1838 and 1851). Entries kept after 4 May 1856 were made
by Warren's son, Jonathan Mason Warren.

Jonathan Mason Warren's journals document his medical career, including
descriptions of operations he performed as a surgeon at Massachusetts General
Hospital, the use of ether during medical procedures, and his participation in
various medical and professional societies, as well as his travels to
Philadelphia for a meeting of the American Medical Association (1855) and two
voyages to Europe (1854 and 1855-1856).

The series also contains a memorial of John Warren Brown by Rebecca Warren
Brown and a tribute to Rebecca Warren Brown by Rev. Ezra Stiles Gannett.

John Warren

Vol. 47

Medical accounts,
1777-1797

Vol. 48

Medical accounts,
1785-1809

Vol. 49

Medical accounts,
1789-1812

Vol. 50

Medical accounts,
1792-1813

Vol. 51

Medical accounts,
1798-1813

Vol. 52

Boston residents medical accounts, including index,
1803-1815

John Collins Warren

Vol. 53

Medical accounts,
1813-1822

Vol. 54

Medical accounts,
1817-1840

John Warren

Vol. 55

Daybook,
1788-1790

Vol. 56

Daybook,
1791-1795

Vol. 57 (XT)

Daybook,
1794-1798

Vol. 58 (XT)

Daybook,
1798-1801

Vol. 59 (XT)

Daybook,
1802-1804

Vol. 60 (XT)

Daybook,
1804-1807

Vol. 61 (XT)

Daybook,
1808-1813

Vol. 62 (XT)

Daybook,
1813-1815

Vol. 63

Daybook,
1796-1813

Vol. 64

Daybook,
1791-1807

Vol. 65

Daybook,
1782-1783

Vol. 66

Continental Army daybook of accounts,
Jan.-Oct. 1783

Vol. 67

Daybook,
1811-1815

Vol. 68

Patient account book,
1813-1818

John Collins Warren

Vol. 69

Accounts,
1822-1823

Vol. 70

Journal,
13 July-14 Sep. 1837

Vol. 71

Journal,
15 Sep. 1837-11 Mar. 1838

Vol. 72

Journal,
12 Mar.-30 Aug. 1838

Vol. 73-74

Journal,
1 Sep. 1838-31 Mar. 1839

Vol. 75-76

Journal,
1 Apr.-31 Dec. 1839

Vol. 77-78

Journal,
1 Jan. 1840-30 Mar. 1841

Vol. 79-80

Journal,
3 Apr. 1841-14 Sep. 1843

Vol. 81-82

Journal,
19 Sep. 1843-17 Dec. 1846

Vol. 83-84

Journal,
18 Dec. 1846-27 Sep. 1848

Vol. 85-86

Journal,
28 Sep. 1848-31 Dec. 1849

Vol. 87-88

Journal,
1850

Vol. 89-90

Journal,
1 Jan.-31 Oct. 1851

Vol. 91-92

Journal,
1 Nov. 1851-20 Mar. 1853

Vol. 93-94

Journal,
21 Mar. 1853-31. Dec. 1854

Vol. 95-96

Journal,
1 Jan. 1855-28 Apr. 1856, including diary and medical
entries written by Jonathan Mason Warren after the death of John Collins
Warren,
28 Apr.-31 Dec. 1856

Preferred Citation

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in
ABIGAIL,
the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers
desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should
search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Warren family.

Warren family--Genealogy.

Warren, John, 1753-1815.

Warren, John Collins, 1842-1927.

Warren, Jonathan Mason, 1811-1867.

Warren, Joseph, 1741-1775.

Organizations:

Harvard Medical School.

Massachusetts General Hospital.

Subjects:

Account books--1771-1910.

Ether (Anesthetic).

Medical education--Massachusetts.

Medical fees.

Medicine--Massachusetts--Boston.

Medicine, Military.

Phrenology.

Physicians--Massachusetts--Boston.

United States--History--Revolution,
1775-1783--Medical care.

United States--History--Revolution,
1775-1783--Personal narratives.

Materials Removed from the Collection

Photographs from this collection have been removed to the John Collins
Warren photographs. Photo. Coll. 192.

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